Lilly's Corner — Restaurant in Norfolk

You can smell the food as you’re parking right outside the restaurant! Very cozy unassuming place, right next to a Jr. Market/gas station. Outside you can see giant signage covering the windows with pictures of their entrees. As you enter, the great smell of food envelopes you. You get transformed into a world of Senegalese/African motif - bright yellow, burgundy, green patterned wallpaper, repeated onto fabric table covers protected by plastic liners. There is seating for 28, combination of booths and chairs. You are then greeted with a smile and hello. I quickly said my hello and made a remark that it’s my first time and that not sure what to select. I was asked what I feel like eating - fish? Chicken ? Lamb? It’s a good thing I came well informed from the Yelp reviews- so I ordered Beef Fataya and Chicken Thue Curry. I also ordered poisson frit (fried fish) to go for dinner! The beef fataya came out within 5 minutes. It came in 4 pieces, enough for a meal, with a few fresh chopped lettuce leaves and sauce in a tiny container. They look like empanadas! Very delicious with fresh ground beef. The sauce how ever little packs some spicy punch!!!!! While waiting for my other dish I am entertained by some humming and singing in the kitchen. Is that part of the service? Then the chicken Thue Curry came out. The curry comes with fufu, served in to go containers and plate for you to enjoy portions as you dine in. The curry came with 2 small drumsticks and two chunks of bone in, fall off the bone chicken and deep orange carrots and potatoes all cooked to Perfection. The fufu looks like a deeper yellow mashed potatoes but tastes like less fibrous cassava! You can smell the curry but when you start to eat, the curry is different from the Thai curry or Indian curry - they seem to use other spices- different but delicious! The temperature was hot, you know the food wasn’t heated up from refrigerated or frozen state. I would come back to try all other dishes. Will definitely add the review for the poisson frit when I eat it for...

I honestly hate giving this place 1 star. However, it's necessary because of the misinformation regarding the hours. My wife were planning a visit to VA Beach (coming from Richmond) and when we found this place online, we became really excited to try it after reading all the high reviews. They close pretty early so we weren't able to make it for dinner on Saturday. However, we decided we would have lunch here on Sunday at noon.

Now, Google states that their restaurant is open on Sundays from 11-8pm and even the hours posted on the windows of the restaurant itself state that they're open on Sundays. My wife and I got there at 12pm and the place was dead empty. We waited almost an hour, just giving the benefit of the doubt that maybe they were late in opening the restaurant. By 1pm, we gave up and we even went to the mart next door to ask if they knew why Lilly's Corner wasn't opened, and they said that we weren't the only ones to ask this question. They said that this place is usually closed on Sundays. Now imagine the frustration from both my wife and I; we were anxiously waiting to try the food from this place and we were HUNGRY, only to find out that these people couldn't even be bothered to update their hours on site or online. I have low sugar problems, so it only made everything far worse.

I would be more than happy to change this review one day if I ever get to try this place, but as for now, I have no interest in even going there anymore. I'm sorry, but this is just not how you run a business. If for some reason there was an emergency, at least leave a note on the front door or something, but considering the people next door said they don't even open on Sundays, I'm guessing these guys...

I believe they need to have another worker who understands English better. I called to see when lunch was over. He didn't understand me. I bought fufu with spinach stew, like the picture shows. The fufu wasn't presented neatly, and I started feeling nauseous, and I don't know why. I checked the menu because I'm allergic to peanuts. They have pine nut oil or something, but not peanuts. I called again to ask him what was in it, but he kept trying to place an order for peanut stew. I just wanted to know how my food was made. It's making me sick!! What should I do???

update : September 24th, I visited the establishment 3wks ago and requested a refund due to an allergic reaction to peanuts in the meal I consumed. I spoke with an individual who identified herself as the owner's cousin, as the owner was out of town for two weeks. My name and phone number were recorded, and I was informed that I would be contacted upon their return. However, I have yet to receive any communication from the establishment. Given the circumstances, I may need to contact my bank to resolve this matter. I am deeply disappointed with the...